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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says Joe Biden has no plans to visit Waukesha, Wisconsin, after the deadly Christmas parade attack.
During the press briefing, Psaki said Biden didn’t have plans “at this time” because sending the president to a community “requires a lot of assets.”
Oddly, Psaki made it seem as if it was an inconvenience for Biden to travel to the community.
Six people died after a man drove his SUV into a Christmas parade roughly a week ago and Psaki made it clear Biden has no plans, as of now, to visit the community.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
DOOCY: “And the last one. Since the President said this administration is monitoring the situation in Waukesha closely, it has been revealed by prosecutors that the assailant swerved his truck side to side as part of an intentional act to run over as many people as possible, Six people are dead, some children remain hospitalized. Why hasn’t the President visited the members of this Christmas parade attack?”
PSAKI: “Well, I would say first, as you saw the President convey last week, our hearts go out to this community, to the people in Waukesha, that we’ve been in touch, obviously, with officials there, and we’re all watching as people are recovering, and this is such a difficult time of the year for this to happen, it’s difficult at any time. Obviously, any president going to visit a community requires a lot of assets, requires taking their resources, and it’s not something that I have reviewed at this point in time, but we remain in touch with local officials, and certainly, our hearts are with the community as they’ve gone through such a difficult time. Go ahead.
REPORTER: “So for the American public that knows that there’s been a rise in Covid in their communities that may be related to the Delta variant, it may be part of this winter surge, if people are experiencing symptoms and they get tested, should they have an expectation that their test will be in some way compared to what we do know about the Omicron variant?”
WATCH:
Darrell Brooks has been charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide, a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted.
More charges are expected to follow and law enforcement has not revealed an official motive.
Brooks is being held in jail ahead of his next court appearance.
Wisconsin’s two U.S. senators, Ron Johnson (R) and Tammy Baldwin (D), released a joint statement urging those who “may attempt to exploit the tragedy that occurred last Sunday in Waukesha for their own political purposes” to “cease and desist.”
“[Local officials’] top priority is to begin the healing process within Waukesha by providing comfort and support to surviving family members of the deceased, and those injured both in body and spirit,” they wrote.
“They must also conduct a thorough investigation and afford the accused full due process. These will not be easy tasks, and will be made even more difficult if conducted within a politically charged atmosphere,” they added.
